Bhubaneswar: Employees of Odisha State Cooperative Agricultural & Rural Development (OSCARD) bank were detained by police at Raj Bhawan square here while they were marching forward to gherao Cooperation minister Damodar Rout’s residence over their 3-point charter of demands including immediate release of pending salaries.

They alleged salary of the employees of 46 OSCARD banks across the State has been pending for last seven years. Some of the employees have already retired.

“We have not been paid our salaries for seven to eight years. We can neither give treatment to our ailing parents, nor educate our kids. Most of us are not able to manage a square meal and are under distress due to non-payment of salaries. We had earlier staged a dharna at lower PMG square pressing for our demand which fell into the deaf ears of the government. Our agitation will continue till the government addresses our issues”, said Ratan Maharana, president of All Odisha Card Bank Employees’ Union.

OSCARD bank has remained defunct due to stoppage of line of credit by NABARD since 2003. There are around 80 employees posted at 46 branches of the bank across the State.